Name: Shrimp Carbonara
Ingredients: 1 pound spaghetti (reserve 1.5 cups pasta water once cooked); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 5oz pancetta, diced; 1/2 small onion, chopped; 4 clove garlic, minced; 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional); 1lb cooked shrimp; 2 cups pasta water; 4 eggs; 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1 cup peas; pinch salt and black pepper to taste; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; pinch red pepper flakes (if desired)

We are up in CT now for Christmas. We will be getting married up here in April. So yesterday we had some wedding tasks to get done – in the morning we had a meeting at our venue to discuss some details and have our cake tasting! Cake for breakfast?!

We tried 8 flavors of cake – white, yellow, lemon, spice, red velvet, funfetti, dark chocolate and marble and 7 types of filling – vanilla, lemon, strawberry, raspberry cream, dark chocolate, cannoli and raspberry jam. We had a difficult time choosing – tune-in in April to see what we chose 🙂

In the afternoon we met with our DJ. Everything is starting to feel more real now, only 3.5 months to go!

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Today is Walter’s Birthday – Happy Birthday Walter! Last night we had an early birthday dinner for him with my parents and brother. My mom and I made a birthday pasta – Shrimp Carbonara. I really liked it because it tastes rich like a fettuccine, but it is a bit lighter because it doesn’t use any cream. The pancetta gives it a salty flavor and the peas add a touch of sweet!

Shrimp Carbonara

Author: Chocolate Covered Cheetah

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

1 pound spaghetti (reserve 1.5 cups pasta water once cooked)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5oz pancetta, diced
1/2 small onion, chopped
4 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
1lb cooked shrimp
2 cups pasta water
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup peas
pinch salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
pinch red pepper flakes (if desired)

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add spaghetti and cook until al dente
Keep 1.5 cups pasta water, drain the rest, set aside
While the spaghetti is cooking, in a large skillet, heat oil, add chopped pancetta, chopped onion and garlic and cook until crispy
Add wine if desired, cook one more minute
Add shrimp to warm, cooking 1-2 minutes
Whisk together 4 eggs and 1.5 cups parmesan cheese, add to pot of spaghetti, stirring vigorously
Working quickly, add the pancetta mixture to the spaghetti
Add the peas
Add salt and pepper to taste if desired
Plate and top with chopped parsley and red pepper flakes if desired